George Allen has a new calling: lobbying to defeat any forward thinking legislation coming out of the White House on energy reform.  You might remember Allen as the former Republican Governor then US Senator from Virginia who stuck his foot deep in his mouth during his 2006 Senate reelection bid when he called a South Asian campaign worker, for Democratic opponent Jim Webb,  “Macaca“.  Unfortunately for Allen, the young man, S.R. Sidarth, videotaped the slur and posted the footage on YouTube where it became a political sensation. Check it out: You’ll notice that special racist touch at the end welcoming Sidarth “to America and the real world of Virginia“, ignorant of the fact that he was born and raised there. It turned out that “Macaca” is a racial epithet from colonial Africa meaning monkey. Allen’s mother was from Tunisia and it was speculated that he learned the word from her.  The incident ended up losing Allen the election, as voters in fast growing and culturally diverse Northern Virginia, and goodhearted folks elsewhere in the state, got turned off by an obviously nasty flirtation with racial politics.  Prior to the video, the election race was thought to be in the bag for the Republican incumbent. You’ll notice George Allen being more careful with what he says in the video clip below touting his new lobbying organization, the American Energy Freedom Center: The rhetoric is actually so measured that nothing real is actually said in the clip beyond feel good sloganeering. But once you get past the packaging and spin, it’s clear Allen’s American Energy Freedom Center (they just had to slip in the word freedom) is trying to minimize any real change to American energy policy.  Unfortunately for them, the issue is so far along in the mindset of the general public that the only viable strategy is to pretend to be for the “change” that people voted for in the last election, while actually, slyly making arguments that uphold the status quo. Small nods are made on their website to “clean” energy, by Allen in the video, and green spaces as seen with this photo of a tree in a beautiful field, but the true goal comes in the fine print:

American energy policy is at a crossroads. Either we will choose a future of abundant, affordable and reliable sources of American energy, or we can choose a future of expensive, inflexible and highly regulated energy. In order to ensure the path to a brighter energy future is chosen, Americans need to gain an understanding of the inextricable link between affordable energy and a prosperous society. The American people also need to learn of the many current and proposed impediments to affordable, competitive and secure energy.

It’s important to take note of the scare tactics the right wing is going to pull to try and stymie real, comprehensive energy reform.  The American Energy Freedom Center website is a great place to see these carefully crafted strategies firsthand.

LINKS:

NY Times: George Allen returns, tries to counter Democrats on climate

Grist: Former Republican Sen. George ‘Macaca’ Allen shills for dirty energy

Richmond Times Dispatch: George Allen launches group to sway energy policy